CAPE TOWN - Statistics South Africa announced that the census mop-up phase has started from March 24 until April 14, with the Western Cape Province lagging with less than 30% of households counted.
During the mop-up phase, fieldworkers will visit all incomplete enumeration areas to count all households that were not counted during the first phase of data collection.
Provinces are in the process of completing their plans to enumerate the outstanding households in the shortest time possible.
Fieldworkers will go out in groups to enumerate areas that have been identified as unsafe.
Gatekeepers (members of the body corporate, farm owners, etc.) for communities living in estates, farms and other settlement types where access to individual households is strictly managed can, with the assistance of the fieldworker assigned to their area, arrange to receive a questionnaire completion link which will enable all households in their community to complete the questionnaire online.
Once the link has been received, it is the responsibility of the gatekeeper to distribute the link to the households, who must then complete the questionnaire online.
Participation in the census is mandatory under the Statistics Act (Act 6 of 1999).
Households that have not been counted are advised to wait to be contacted by a fieldworker.
Households who have not registered before and wish to opt for online completion can only register with the assistance of a fieldworker. Online registration will not reopen.
"Approximately 60% of the current fieldworkers will be given new contracts at the same rate of pay as was previously the case.
"Households who registered for online questionnaire completion before but failed to complete the questionnaire within the allocated time will be re-sent the questionnaire completion link. Households are requested to please adhere to the communicated time-lines for questionnaire completion.
"The main phase of data collection for Census 2022 came to an end on Sunday, 20 March 2022. Just more than 12 million households, from an estimated 17.4 million households, have been counted," Stats SA said.
The provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the Free State have completed more than 70% of households; the Western Cape Province is lagging with less than 30% of households counted.
“We appeal to everyone who has not been counted to use this opportunity to exercise their civic duty to participate in the census,” said Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke.
Cape Times